‘Cats Corner is the official blog for the Tri-City ValleyCats, Short Season Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, and member of the historic New York-Penn League. 'Cats Corner consistently ranks as one of the top 50 professional blogs on the MLB.com network. With game and promotional recaps, team analysis and more, 'Cats Corner is ValleyCats fans #1 source for information.

State Farm Clinic and Camp Day #2

Monday was an eventful day at “The Joe.” It began with a free youth baseball clinic for children from the Albany Police Athletic League courtesy of State Farm.

Manager Stubby Clapp and Houston Astros roving instructor Milt Thompson joined members of the ‘Cats front office to help provide instruction to dozens of children before the ValleyCats’ game.

The kids learned the basics of baseball at several stations, including throwing and catching, pop flies, infield drills and baseball lingo.

Our second and final Camp Day game of the season was a lot of fun with over 40 camps in attendance! The game started at 11 a.m., giving thousands of kids a chance to watch some daytime baseball.

To kick things off, Troy native and longtime R.P.I. baseball coach, Karl Steffen, painted the corner with one of our ceremonial first pitches. R.P.I. Athletics was on hand at the Top of the Hill to enjoy the afternoon game.

For the few who have not seen the clip, ‘Cats manager Stubby Clapp stole the show with his first ejection of the season. The team responded with a brief rally but couldn’t come all the way back, as Auburn completed a sweep with a 13-6 win.

Following the game, the team travelled to Jamestown for a three game set and will return on Friday for a series against Vermont. That game is presented by Trustco bank and will feature post-game fireworks courtesy of Price Chopper.

Tri-City vs. Auburn was not the only game played at “The Joe” yesterday, as the front office staff took advantage of the matinee game to get out onto the field themselves for a 4:00 pm tilt. The full-time staff dominated the interns, who narrowly escaped the ten-run rule. Stadium Operations manager Keith Sweeney pitched five strong innings, with vice president/GM Rick Murphy pacing the offense on the way to a 10-1 rout.

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